Six Principles of Cultivating the Ability of "Slow Thinking"

In the book Thinking, Fast and Slow, psychologist Daniel Kahneman introduced two ways for people's brains to make decisions: quick thinking and slow thinking, and quick thinking relies on emotion, memory and experience to make quick judgments; Slow thinking analyzes and solves problems by mobilizing attention. Slow, not easy to make mistakes. The relationship between these two ways is like the two ends of a switch. One end is open and the other end is closed.

In the era of information overload, people rely too much on quick thinking. Martin Reeves, managing director of the new york office of the Boston Consulting Group, said that company executives are victims of this over-dependence, but they have found various ways to curb this habit. After talking with many famous entrepreneurs, Martin Reeves and his colleagues summed up six principles to cultivate their slow thinking ability, and published them in Harvard Business Review.

The first principle is to arrange free thinking time for yourself. Martin Reeves quoted data from a study conducted by Harvard Business School in 20 15. Ceos leave only 15% of the total time for independent work, leaving even less time for deep thinking. Time is the premise of slow thinking. "If thinking is to become a daily habit, then leaders should arrange the time for deep thinking in a planned way without any interference." Every leader has a different timetable. Geoff Wehner, CEO of LinkedIn, sets aside 90 minutes to two hours to think deeply every day, and Jana Kakkar, global managing partner of Dahlberg, thinks deeply for two hours three times a week. You can make appropriate arrangements according to your own specific situation.

Second, find a mentor. Martin Reeves found that Socrates' question and answer method is the most effective way to promote deep thinking. Business leaders often have structured dialogues with trusted partners, which can stimulate your exploratory thinking. "In the dialogue with Plato, Socrates' main role is to ask some leading questions and provide effective methods for students to organize their own ideas and clearly express what they have learned. Today, this method may be more meaningful than in ancient times. "

Third, establish a list of questions that can promote thinking. Good ideas often need stimulation and inspiration, and divergent lists of questions can promote leaders' thinking. These questions can be, "What would I do differently if I rebuilt the company from scratch?" "What should I do now if there are no old rules to restrain my behavior?" "What else do I not know about industries and companies?"

Fourth, protect yourself and your organization from information overload. Martin Reeves believes that in the era of information overload, CEOs should ensure that they and their organizations will not lose the opportunity to think quietly because of massive information. Thinking companies are facing the challenge of excessive communication to productivity and deep thinking. Martin Reeves suggested that such companies should finalize, clarify, accept and implement communication norms at the overall level of the company, "quietly communicate, communicate and think."

Fifth, become a meta-problem solver. Meta-problem is an essential problem. CEO is the company's meta-problem solver. They should consider the problem solving itself. "We should question the process of idea generation and problem solving, and ensure that the solved problems are solved in the most appropriate way." Thinking CEO should not only consider strategy, but also pay attention to whether the strategic method is appropriate in every new situation. "Leaders should not pay attention to the details of implementation, but should ensure that the team adopts the right methods and tools when solving complex problems. If the problem escalates, ask yourself why your team can't solve it and what else you can do to expand their thinking. "

Sixth, be an example for employees. Martin Reeves introduced that Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, the world's largest online footwear sales website, will disclose his schedule to his colleagues to show how he uses his time; Tim, president of AOL? Armstrong would encourage executives to spend a tenth of their working days thinking. Martin Reeves believes that CEO's efficient use of time and more time for deep thinking will also help enterprises to establish the same culture. "Deep thinking should not be the privilege of the CEO, and organizations should not just execute. Automation and artificial intelligence reduce the time for employees to think and operate quickly. If we can develop a culture of deep thinking, it is very important for enterprises to form a sustainable advantage. "

The above are six principles for corporate executives to reduce quick thinking and cultivate slow thinking ability for your reference.